


lucky stars

by thunderylee



Category: Japanese Actor RPF, KAT-TUN (Band), Lucky Seven (TV 2012)
Genre: Canon Universe, Crossover, F/M, side kame/anne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-03-22
Packaged: 2019-01-16 21:04:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12350613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: He most definitely does not like her, not even a little bit. She’s annoying, bossy, and not ladylike at all, and her clothes are louder and more outrageous than Nakamaru’s best friend Masuda.





	lucky stars

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck. written for je-whiteday 2013 and trope bingo (fusion au).

It’s not that Nakamaru doesn’t often have men kneeling at his feet, but they’re usually on stage and not complete strangers on the street. “Can I help—?” he starts to ask, hoping that he didn’t suddenly walk into some gay porno just by getting out of his car.

“Shh!” the man replies, eyes frantic. “I don’t have time to explain, but I cannot let those officers see me.”

Nakamaru’s eyes rake over the man’s own police uniform and blinks a few times. “But aren’t you also a—?”

“Shh!” the man hisses. “I’ll give you whatever you want, just pretend you don’t see me.”

If Nakamaru is sure of one thing in this world, is that he doesn’t want anything this officer impersonator would offer him in exchange for his silence, but he abides anyway. Leaning back against the open door of his car, he looks to all the world like he’s bored out of his mind and just waiting for someone. He’s had enough acting gigs that he’s confident he’s perfected this face by now.

Whether it works or not, the real officers retreat, and the man finally stands up and rakes a nervous hand through his fluffy hair. Nakamaru’s a little concerned, because he usually only sees fluffy hair in his line of work and he’s fairly certain he’s never seen this man before in his life, even if he does have the look of a seasoned idol.

“Thanks,” he says genuinely, flipping out a business card from somewhere in his fake uniform. “Matsumoto Jun, detective.”

“Ah,” Nakamaru says as he accepts the card, feeling considerably less creeped out. “That makes sense. I’m Nakamaru Yuichi, um, student.”

“Student?” Matsumoto raises an eyebrow, and for good reason being as Nakamaru’s car is sleek, red, and foreign. Either that or because he’s pushing thirty, but Nakamaru likes to think he looks much younger. “You must come from one hell of a family.”

“I do okay,” Nakamaru replies evasively, watching as Matsumoto dusts off his knees. “Can I offer you a ride?”

Matsumoto’s eyes light up like a sixteen-year-old being offered a beer. “In this car? Absolutely!”

The detective office isn’t far, and Nakamaru smiles at the homeliness of it. Cutouts for the katakana ‘Lucky Seven’ are posted up in the windows, and there’s only on-street parking available. Being in the entertainment industry for fourteen years makes you forget about ways of life that don’t involve chauffeurs or valet parking, even for the widely-proclaimed ‘ordinary’ one.

“After making all of this effort to park, you may as well come up,” Matsumoto says after Nakamaru’s fifth attempt at parallel parking, which still leaves his tiny sports car crooked with one tire snug against the curb. “I was a freeter once, too, until I fell into this job.”

Nakamaru snorts at being called a freeter, but he follows Matsumoto anyway. He has a sinking suspicion that Matsumoto is flirting with him, which becomes more likely as Matsumoto sashays more than he actually walks. While Nakamaru isn’t opposed to these kinds of relationships with other men (and honestly, in his line of business, those opportunities come by more often than not), he’s at the age where it’s not worth having unless it’s going somewhere, regardless of gender. Everything about Matsumoto Jun screams temporary.

His worries dissolve the moment they walk into the office and another man with even fluffier hair and ears so big they could classify as Dumbo size runs up and pulls Matsumoto into a headlock. It’s so forceful that Nakamaru’s knocked back through the doorway, bewildered as the pair of men appear to be arguing over some kind of plant.

“Jun! Eita!” a loud feminine voice—more like a roar—booms so loudly that Nakamaru jumps with the other two. “What did I tell you about foreplay in front of clients?”

“Ew, as if,” Matsumoto says, making a gloriously disgusted face while Eita bursts out laughing. “He’s not a client, anyway. I ran into him on the street and he did me a favor. This is Nakamaru Yuichi.”

Nakamaru waves, not missing the way a small girl with the bowl cut and glasses twitches at the mention of his name. He supposes he couldn’t have gotten away with one afternoon of not being recognized. “Hello.”

“Nice jacket,” the prior loud girl tells him, looking bored as she paints her nails an obnoxiously bright color to match her clothes. “I’m Naka Riisa, and over there is Iriki Mari, our receptionist.”

The small girl offers a shy smile before turning back to her computer without making a sound. Nakamaru may get out of here unscatched after all.

“What’s with her?” Matsumoto asks, scratching his head and making his hair even wilder. “Anyway, Nakamaru-san, you really saved my ass out there, so if you ever need anything investigated, just let me know.”

“I can’t think of anything…” Nakamaru says slowly, mulling over the people he knows and any shady dealings they may be involved in. “One of my bandma—I mean, fellow students might be in a secret relationship, but I don’t really care enough to know for sure.”

“We can follow him,” Matsumoto offers, sounding excited at the prospect of doing something to pay off his debt. “Or Riisa-chan can seduce him and see if he bites.”

Riisa rolls her eyes, which Nakamaru realizes are lined in fuschia. “I love being the only female detective in this agency,” she says sarcastically.

“That might be a little difficult,” Nakamaru says, eyes widening when Riisa lifts an eyebrow like he’d just doubted her abilities. “No! I didn’t mean like that,” he backpedals quickly. “It’s just, my friend is really popular and usually has girls throwing themselves at him, so it wouldn’t be that easy, is all I’m saying.”

“Nakamaru-san, please,” Eita jumps in, leaning against the wall with an unimpressed  
expression. “We specialize in cheaters—which, by the way, is how Jun-kun came to join us.”

Nakamaru turns to eye Matsumoto, who actually looks sheepish. “He hired you to catch a cheater?”

“No, he was the other man,” Eita says with a grin.

“Whatever, you totally botched that assignment anyway,” Matsumoto snaps at him. “If it wasn’t for me doing your job for you, you would have never even gotten any evidence to prove that she was cheating on your client with me.”

Eita’s eyes get crazy as he moves to get into Matsumoto’s face again, but this time Riisa jumps out of her seat and stands between them. It’s almost comical since she’s so much shorter than both of them, but clearly her command is worth something because they both step back and grumble while sporadically shooting glares at each other.

“I have a better idea,” Riisa says, eyes sparkling as she shoves past the other two and bounds up to Nakamaru. “How about I just pretend to be your girlfriend, and we can spy on them that way?”

“Um,” Nakamaru says slowly, feeling a little uneasy under her bright stare despite being almost a full head taller than her. “That’s really not necessary, I mean, like I said I really don’t care if he’s seeing her or not—”

“It’s fine,” Riisa dismisses. “Business is slow right now anyway. Let’s exchange information and we can meet up later to go over our cover.”

Nakamaru’s first instinct is to look to the side, where the receptionist is still star-struck and possibly googling him on her laptop, and he sighs in defeat. They’ll all find out the minute he walks out of the office anyway. “Actually, I’m an idol.”

Out of all of the reactions he’d expected, laughter wasn’t one of them. “That’s not a very good cover,” Riisa says. “Aside from your friend already knowing who you are, you’re not very idol-like.”

“No, I mean…” Nakamaru trails off as Riisa wipes tears of mirth from her eyes. Sighing, he turns toward Mari. “Help me out here?”

“He’s the N in KAT-TUN,” Mari says quietly, which gets Matsumoto’s attention. “They’re a world-famous pop boyband.”

“Johnny’s?” he asks, wrinkling his nose. “I auditioned when I was a kid, but they didn’t accept me.”

“I wonder why,” Eita says sarcastically, and the pair of them start punching each other again.

This time Riisa ignores them. “What’s a KAT-TUN?” she asks, still entirely too amused.

“Never mind,” Nakamaru grumbles. “You must be the only girl in the prefecture who doesn’t know who we are.”

“I don’t like pop music,” she says simply. “I’m more of a hard rock kind of girl. I almost started my own band, but all of that screaming was ruining my voice.”

Nakamaru blinks. “My friend is Kamenashi Kazuya, and I suspect he’s sneaking around with his co-star Anne. He says they’re just friends, but I don’t believe him.”

This has Mari’s eyes bulging out of her head, but Riisa just waves her hand. “Whatever. Do you want my help or not?”

“I…” Nakamaru feels everyone looking at him and reluctantly sighs. “Fine.”

“Awesome.” She grins, and it’s so authentic that it tugs at Nakamaru’s heart a little, which just leaves him unprepared for her swiping his cell phone from his hand. “We’ll do some snooping on our end, but if you can snag a double date or something, that would be best.”

“Okay,” Nakamaru says, still in awe of this whole thing as Riisa takes a ridiculous picture of herself with his phone and sets it as her display icon.

He’s on his way out when Mari anxiously approaches him. “Um,” she says quietly.

“Oh, do you want an autograph?” Nakamaru asks, transforming into idol mode. “I’m not supposed to give them out, but I suppose if you don’t put it online or anything—”

“Actually,” she cuts him off, “I was hoping you could just tell Taguchi-kun that I’m supporting him.”

Nakamaru just sets his jaw and agrees to pass along the message.

*

“You know she looks like Nino, right?” is the first thing Kame says upon seeing Riisa’s picture in his phone.

“What?” Nakamaru asks, grabbing for the device and squinting his eyes. “She does not even.”

“Let me see!” Taguchi exclaims, leaning halfway over the couch with his arm around both of them. “Yup, definitely Nino’s face.”

“That’s disgusting,” Nakamaru says. “Thanks, you guys, now I’ll have a hard time looking at her.”

“You don’t have to look at her face,” Ueda says pointedly, and Nakamaru kicks him as his cheeks heat up. “Oh, come on, Yuichi. You finally get a girlfriend and expect us not to tease you about her?”

“I’m sure she doesn’t look like Nino everywhere,” Kame says comfortingly, patting Nakamaru’s shoulder. “She has a nice rack, anyway.”

“Have you found out for yourself yet?” Taguchi asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“Guys, stop,” Nakamaru mutters, snatching his phone back. “Have some respect.”

“Aww, you’re so nice,” Koki says, plopping down on Nakamaru’s other side. “I hope this one waits for you.”

Nakamaru narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that your last three girlfriends gave up waiting for you to give it to them,” Koki replies outright. “One of them even came to me, honestly. I didn’t do it because of the bro code, but she was so miserable that I thought about it.”

“That was so long ago,” Nakamaru says, realizing it as soon as the words come out, though he still narrows his eyes at Koki. “And you stay away from Riisa.”

“Anyway, you wanted my opinion on something?” Kame asks, looking smug at being the one Nakamaru comes to for advice on women. “How to not get caught by the paparazzi, maybe? Though you could probably walk down the street sucking her face and nobody would bat an eyelash.”

Nakamaru shifts in his seat, uneasy at the thought of sucking anything, let alone in public. “I just thought you might have places to recommend. Good date spots.”

“I haven’t dated anyone in years, Yuichi,” Kame says, looking straight into Nakamaru’s eyes, and Nakamaru feels a pang of hurt because he knows that Kame’s lying. “I have enough rumors without even doing anything, you know. It’s not worth it.”

“That’s so sad,” Taguchi says, transferring both of his arms to wrap around Kame as he turns to address Nakamaru. “Rena and I usually stick to her family’s businesses, where we’re less likely to be spotted. You’re welcome to join us, if you don’t mind the atmosphere.”

“Yakuza bars aren’t really first-date material,” Nakamaru says gently, and Taguchi just shrugs. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

They get back to work then, and Nakamaru shoots off a message to Riisa that he’d had no luck getting anything out of Kame.

Luck is what I do, Riisa replies. Their schedules match up tomorrow night. Think you can abandon your hot rod car for an old-fashioned stakeout?

Nakamaru blinks as he answers in the affirmative, wondering what he’d just gotten himself into.

*

Twenty minutes in, he learns that every detective show he’d ever watched had been horribly misleading. It’s incredibly cold outside, even huddled together in a dark corner that looks more scandalous than it really is. Riisa had gotten them some McDonald’s and was chewing annoyingly loudly right next to him, making so much noise that it’s hard to believe she could successfully spy on anyone.

“Aren’t you concerned about blowing our cover?” Nakamaru hisses when she starts slurping on her soda. “What kind of detective are you?”

“I don’t think you quite understand what our cover actually is,” Riisa informs him through her mouthful. “We’re supposed to look like we’re not sitting here waiting for your friend and his lady of the night to cross paths in this courtyard. That way it doesn’t look as obvious to everyone walking by.”

“Well…” Nakamaru shivers as he curls up with himself, trying not to lean toward her for warmth. “What makes you think they’ll even meet up here?”

“This is the logical rendezvous spot given their respective job locations today,” Riisa says, then huffs. “This would have been moderately easier if they were still promoting their movie together.”

“I’m sorry, Matsumoto-kun hadn’t yet dropped into my lap back then,” Nakamaru replies sarcastically. “What’s his deal, anyway?”

“Other than that he wants in Eita’s pants?” Riisa asks, and Nakamaru nearly chokes on his chicken nuggets. “I have no idea, but I have to admit he’s good at what he does.”

“I hope you’re talking about investigating,” Nakamaru mutters.

Riisa laughs and nudges him with her shoulder. “And if I wasn’t? I’m not really your girlfriend, you know.”

“I know that!” Nakamaru says a little too loudly. “I don’t care if you’re like that with him. I just don’t want to hear about it.”

Riisa pats him on the arm. “Rest assured, I have no interest in what he has to offer.” She takes another huge bite of her burger and goes on before she’s done swallowing. “He’s actually a crappy investigator, even worse at undercover, and his temper gets him into trouble more often than not, but somehow he still cracks the cases. I suspect that’s why Nanako-chan keeps him around.”

Nakamaru remembers the circumstances under which he and Matsumoto had met and is inclined to agree with her assessment. “That’s a strange business you operate there.”

“Nakamaru-kun,” Riisa says, sounding entirely too exasperated considering the short time they’ve been together. “Can you not look so aggravated being here with me? You’re not convincing anyone we’re together, you know.”

“Who do we have to convince—” Nakamaru starts.

“Stakeouts aren’t just about the targets,” Riisa cuts him off. “The other people around also have to believe that nothing out of the ordinary is going on, or the atmosphere will be too suspicious for the targets to even step foot into our view.”

“You really know what you’re talking about,” Nakamaru grumbles, sighing in defeat as he leans back and rubs his hands together. “Fine, then what are we supposed to do until they get here? Gaze into each other’s eyes?”

“That would be overkill, I think,” Riisa answers seriously. “Let’s just have a conversation like any other couple who’s getting to know each other. You can start by telling me how the hell someone like you came to be a pop idol.”

Nakamaru would be offended, but he’s too cold to argue and just starts in on the story he’s shared a million times. Riisa admits to including Nakamaru himself in her research and says that he was quite a cute teenager, which Nakamaru chooses to take as a compliment. She asks questions about the industry and seems genuinely interested, though he’s convinced that she’s just killing time as her eyes keep darting around the courtyard looking for either Kame or Anne to emerge amongst the people rushing back and forth in front of them.

“Ah,” she interrupts him, and he shoots a glare at her because he’d just gotten to the emotional part of KAT-TUN’s history, but her face is lit up like she’d just caught the ‘targets’ red-handed or something.

Except that they are nowhere to be found. Nakamaru’s no sleuth, but he’s better than most at picking his disguised bandmates out in a crowd. Kame and Anne together stick out to begin with, since she’s so much taller than him. “What are you even—”

“I thought it might be something like this,” Riisa says slowly, looking both elated and amazed as Nakamaru tries to follow her line of sight. “It’s genius, actually. If I didn’t already suspect it, I’d never know.”

Nakamaru focuses as much as he can, but the only couples he sees are taller men with smaller women. “Are you messing with me?” he finally asks. “Neither one of them is here.”

“But they are, right there in front of your face,” Riisa says. “Except you would never notice by appearance alone.”

“What are you talking about?” Nakamaru demands, starting to get irritated. “They’re not—”

“Look at their faces,” Riisa hisses, and the instant she says the words, he sees it. He can’t believe his eyes, because it really is Anne and Kame’s faces, plain as day, just…switched.

That is to say, Anne’s dressed as a man while Kame’s dressed as a woman, complete with wig and dress underneath a very feminine fur coat. Anne even has a bit of a swag in her step, her arm slung loosely around Kame’s shoulders as she leads him through the courtyard.

“Oh my god!” Nakamaru exclaims, not in any way quiet, and the next thing he knows is Riisa’s lips on his, the taste of McDonald’s fries and cherry lip gloss taking over his senses. It takes so long for his brain to catch up that he’s already responding by the time he realizes what’s happening, which is that they’re kissing and not in any way that should be done in public, let alone with someone he’s known for two days.

It warms him right up, though, and that excuse is on the tip of his tongue (which was just in her mouth) as they slowly break apart, hands on each other’s shoulders. Nakamaru can see his breath as he struggles to catch it, and even Riisa is gasping a little as she composes herself and pulls away.

“Way to go,” she grumbles, “now we lost them.”

Nakamaru blinks a few times, his lips still tingling from being pressed against hers, and all he can do is gape at her and make a nonsensical noise.

“Don’t look so traumatized,” she hisses. “I had to do something before you blew our cover. I don’t think they recognized us, but I also couldn’t watch what direction they went.”

“I bet they went to his place,” Nakamaru says, finding his voice as he recalls what Kame had said about not going out. “Come on, let’s go.”

He gathers up their trash and deposits it in a nearby bin, one hand on Riisa’s wrist as he pulls her through the courtyard and in the direction of Kame’s apartment building. He doesn’t see them again, and he slows to a stop right in front of the entrance, at a loss of what to do now.

“This way,” Riisa hisses, and now she’s the one dragging him across the the street and through the lobby of the building directly across from Kame’s. They’re the only ones in the elevator and it’s more awkward than Nakamaru expects, mostly because the way they’re both breathless from speed-walking reminds him of how they’d been breathless from kissing and every nerve in his body is sparking for him to do it again.

He distracts himself from his hormones by paying attention to their surroundings as Riisa lets him into a barebones apartment. Nothing on the walls, only enough lights to get around, one futon on the ground with some necessities scattered about.

“What is this place?” he asks, though the answer becomes clearer as Riisa unearths a pair of binoculars from her bag and stands to the side of the window.

“We leased this apartment for surveillance purposes. Standard procedure.”

“You leased…” Nakamaru trails off as he processes her words. “Damn, we should be grateful that the paparazzi doesn’t hire you guys to follow us.”

Underneath the binoculars, there’s a hint of a smile. “We do have a shred of moral decency, Nakamaru-kun.”

“So what are you doing now?” he asks, leaning against the wall for lack of anywhere to sit. “Kame’s not dumb enough to leave his curtains open, you know. Especially if he’s sneaking around with an actress.”

“I already took that into consideration, thanks,” Riisa says shortly. “When it gets dark, we’ll be able to tell by the shadows if there is anyone inside, and how many people there are. Also we can see if either of them comes or leaves through the entrance, or if they have food delivered or anything.”

“How would you know if they have food delivered?” Nakamaru asks.

“I bugged the buzzer box,” Riisa answers, pointing to an earphone snug in her ear. “If this was a real job, I’d be downstairs waiting to sneak in after the delivery man, but it’s cold and we really just need to confirm that she’s in there with him.”

“Actually, I’m not sure if that would confirm anything,” Nakamaru says dejectedly. “They are friends. It’s highly possible that they just dress up like that to keep rumors from getting started, and she just stays the night over at Kame’s whenever they want to hang out.”

“I don’t know if I buy that,” Riisa says, lifting her eyes from the binoculars to roll them in Nakamaru’s direction. “How often do women and men spend the night together without something going on between them?”

Nakamaru sputters a bit before responding. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Because every time you’ve spent the night with a girl, something has happened, right?” Riisa’s voice is casual, like this is a completely normal conversation to have, and Nakamaru’s only saving grace is that she’s too busy looking through the binoculars to notice him jump.

“That’s not your business,” he mutters, and she just shrugs. “Kame works with a lot of women and in this business you need to be discreet, because the smallest look has the rumors flying and nobody cares if they’re true or not.”

Now Riisa puts down the binoculars and looks right at him. “Do you want to stop this?”

“Yes!” Nakamaru exclaims. “This is a waste of time. We’re not going to catch them doing anything that proves they’re dating while they’re behind closed doors. And this place gives me the creeps.”

“Are you really twenty-nine?” Riisa asks, and Nakamaru gapes at her. “Whatever, let’s go then. Unless…”

Her expression changes, and Nakamaru is still debating his feelings on it when she steps closer. “Unless?” he prompts her.

Riisa stops a few feet away and lifts her pink-shadowed eyes to him. “Unless you want to pick up from where we left off earlier?”

Nakamaru’s still trying to form words as she gathers her spy gear and drifts past him, her laughter continuing in his head well into the night.

*

When Nakamaru had said he wanted to stop it, he’d meant spying on Kame entirely, except that Riisa takes their investigation to the next step without even consulting Nakamaru.

I ran into Kamenashi-kun today, her text says a week later. Told him I’m a huge fan of Anne’s and he suggested the four of us have dinner. Lucky!

Nakamaru stares at his phone in disbelief as he processes this information. His biggest question is how the hell she managed to ‘run into’ Kame, though given her level of sleuthing skills anything is possible. She could probably con her way right into the Jimusho if she wanted to, and not just because she looks like their bitchy choreographer.

“Hey, I saw your girlfriend at the grocery store,” Kame tells him the next time they meet up. “She’s so nice.”

‘Nice’ is the last word Nakamaru would use to describe Riisa, but he just nods and plays along. “She mentioned it. Something about a double date?”

Kame just laughs, not falling for it at all. “Please say that in front of Anne so I can see her face.”

A theory starts to form in Nakamaru’s mind, but all he does is join in the laughter as Kame starts spouting off places they can go. They decide on okonomiyaki, since it’s a group activity and Kame knows a low-key place where they’ll be left alone even if they’re recognized. It’s a few weeks before all three of their schedules match up, Anne now busy with a new drama while Kamenashi and Nakamaru have KAT-TUN business, though Nakamaru’s in no rush to see Riisa again so soon anyway.

Sometimes when the wind blows the right way, he can still feel her kiss on his lips. He refuses to admit that he liked it, even if it’s totally logical for a man to like a kiss from a woman even if he doesn’t like her. Because he most definitely does not like her, not even a little bit. She’s annoying, bossy, and not ladylike at all, and her clothes are louder and more outrageous than Nakamaru’s best friend Masuda.

But damn, can she kiss. As much as he tries to stop it, that’s all he can think about when they meet up at the okonomiyaki place, his eyes flickering down to her glossy lips. He wonders what flavor it is, strawberry or watermelon or something fruity, since last time all he could taste were McDonald’s French fries.

He knows that he’s gaping rather obviously at her, but Kame’s already there and it’s purely for show. He swears. Riisa flashes him an odd look before replacing it with a bright smile, bounding up to him and flinging her arms around him. She smells like some kind of flower, subtle enough to be unnoticeable until he hugs her back, ignoring how nicely she fits in his arms and how soft her hair is on his nose.

“Aw, you two are cute,” Kame says as they break apart, and Nakamaru supposes he’s a convincing actor after all as he rushes to pull out Riisa’s chair for her like a proper gentleman.

“Is Anne-san still coming?” Riisa asks, using this cutesy voice that’s not her at all, and Nakamaru covers up his scoff with a cough.

“She’ll be late,” Kame tells her apologetically. “She got caught up at drama filming. But she’s still coming, I promise!”

“Okay,” Riisa says, smoothing her napkin with her fingers as she pretends to fret. “I’m just nervous about meeting her.”

“She’s great,” Kame assures her, glaring pointedly at Nakamaru until Nakamaru realizes he should be doing something to comfort his ‘girlfriend’. It’s probably the most awkward back pat of all time, but it seems to satisfy Kame at least. “She loves female fans.”

Riisa lights up and Nakamaru wonders if it’s all an act; maybe Riisa really is a fan of Anne’s and she’s just using this investigation as a chance to meet her. Payment for services already rendered, Nakamaru figures, though he can’t quite put a finger on why this bothers him so much.

His thought process shifts radically when Anne walks into the room, making an entrance wherever she goes and commanding everyone’s attention, particularly Kame’s. Nakamaru has known Kame for a long time, and he’s never seen Kame look at anyone the way he’s looking at Anne right now. If Nakamaru had to compare it to something, it would be how a groom looks at his bride as she walks down the aisle to marry him.

“Sorry I’m late,” Anne says as she takes her seat, shrugging off Kame when he moves to help her with her coat. “I got caught up turning down Kitayama-kun. He asked me out, can you believe that? I’m almost a whole head taller than him. Kazuya, control your kouhai.”

Kame bursts out laughing. “He’s older than me.”

“Hello, Nakamaru-kun,” Anne says sweetly, though her voice packs enough venom for Nakamaru to just nod politely in return. “And you must be Riisa-chan.”

“It’s an honor, Anne-san,” Riisa says, placing her hand over her heart. “Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me.”

“Any girl who sticks with Nakamaru-kun long enough to wait for me to be free is worth my company.” Anne winks, clearly joking, but Nakamaru twitches at the truth beneath it. “Are you an aspiring actress?”

“Oh no, I can’t act at all,” Riisa replies, and Nakamaru reaches for his water to cover up his snort. “I love your work, though. I’ve seen the Bem movie twice already.”

“Thank you,” both Kame and Anne say, looking genuinely happy. For a second they look like a couple and Nakamaru’s heart warms; even if Kame is lying to him, it’s worth it to see him like this, with someone he really cares about. Even if it’s one-sided.

The more Anne focuses her attention on Riisa next to them, the more Nakamaru thinks that is the case. He’s not sure whether Anne just isn’t interested or isn’t aware that Kame is; she doesn’t seem to be blatantly ignoring Kame, just focusing on the person whom she’s here to meet. Either she’s really good at pretending they’re not together…or they’re really not.

Riisa excuses herself to the washroom when Kame starts the okonomiyaki, and Anne offers to join her. Nakamaru will never understand why girls do this together, but this time he’s grateful for it so that Riisa can do whatever she plans on doing to get information out of Anne. Meanwhile, Nakamaru tosses in ingredients while Kame spreads them around, then flips when the dough is cooked enough.

They don’t speak the entire time the girls are gone, but it’s a comfortable silence that Nakamaru probably prefers over Kame grilling him about his ‘girlfriend’. When Riisa and Anne return, though, Anne looks thoughtful and Kame notices before she even sits down.

“Everything okay?” he asks gently, looking bewildered like he’s never seen her like this before.

“Do you like me?” she counter-asks bluntly, and Kame’s eyes widen. “I mean, like me like you want to date me.”

“Anne, we’re friends,” Kame says uneasily, glancing toward Nakamaru and Riisa before turning his gaze back to Anne’s.

“That’s not what I asked you, Kazuya.” Anne’s voice is stern, like how she would speak to her staff or maybe Kitayama, and Nakamaru can almost see Kame’s eyes glazing over.

“Let’s go outside, Nakamaru-kun,” Riisa says brightly, grabbing Nakamaru’s wrist and nearly pulling him away from the table. He gazes longingly at the okonomiyaki on the way out, hoping that Kame isn’t preoccupied enough to let it burn because he really is hungry.

“What did you do?!” Nakamaru hisses the instant they’re outside, watching through the windows like creepers.

“I told her the truth,” Riisa answers, and now Nakamaru’s looking at her in disbelief. “When I mentioned that you thought Kame was lying to you about not dating her, she looked genuinely amazed like she’d never before considered the possibility.”

“Kame’s in love with her and she has no idea,” Nakamaru relays, his voice softening along with Anne’s face as Kame clearly struggles to look her in the eye as he speaks.

“That much is obvious,” Riisa says, and Nakamaru supposes it really is if he himself had noticed. “They just needed a little push.”

“This time you were a matchmaker, not a detective,” Nakamaru points out.

Riisa shrugs. “A win is a win. They’re probably going to get together now, and you know the truth.”

“Well, good for them.” The words come out more bitterly than Nakamaru had intended, trying to make the following ones more gentle. “I’m glad he’ll be happy.”

“I learned something, too, so it wasn’t a complete waste of my time,” Riisa says, turning away from the window to face Nakamaru. “Being straightforward and honest is definitely the only way to get what you want.”

Before Nakamaru can process that, she’s grabbing him by the face and pulling him down to her height, and Nakamaru doesn’t bother to fight it. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close, kissing her like he’s wanted to since the first time, breathing in her scent and tasting her lips.

“Mm, mango,” he murmurs, his mind not entirely there. “It’s—”

“Your favorite, I know,” Riisa cuts him off. “Give me some credit, please. Anyone can find that out on the Internet.”

“We should go back inside,” Nakamaru says very, very reluctantly. “I’m really hungry.”

As if on cue, his stomach rumbles, and Riisa laughs. “Okay, but you should act like my boyfriend now, because you were really bad at it before.”

“They’re going to be so confused,” Nakamaru says, then explains at Riisa’s confused look. “If you told Anne it was all a setup—”

“Oh, I didn’t tell her everything,” Riisa tells him, a little smirk piquing Nakamaru’s interest. “It doesn’t matter anymore now anyway, right?”

It’s a loaded question, but Nakamaru just nods. “Right.”

*

Dating a detective isn’t as troublesome as Nakamaru would have previously expected. It comes in handy for times when Nakamaru gets caught up at work and can’t call, because she knows everything that he has going on. He doesn’t know how she knows, but if it keeps her from getting mad or thinking he’s out with other girls, he’s grateful for it.

It helps that she’s like no woman he’s ever dated before. She laughs when he compliments her, and the one time he’d sent her flowers, she’d asked him if someone had died. For shopping purposes, he’d introduced her to Massu, and the two of them geek out over fashion and lament the entire world not appreciating their flawless shared creativity at least once a week. Nakamaru might be jealous if Massu wasn’t as gay as the day is long, though he starts to regret matching them up when Massu starts ranting about the “fluffy-haired bitch” in Riisa’s office who dared to mock his shoes.

But most of all, Riisa doesn’t push Nakamaru to do anything more than kiss her. She seems content with it, actually, preferring to curl up with him on the couch and make fun of bad movies than try to get him in bed. The first time he’d invited her to his place, he’d been on edge the entire time, but all she’d made him do is walk her to the train station since it was so late when she finally left. Nakamaru appreciates that more than anything, though as time goes on he starts to wonder what he’s waiting for.

Meanwhile, Kame and Anne are so open about their relationship that Nakamaru doesn’t know how he could have ever thought they were hiding it before. They can’t come out and announce it, because Johnny forbids it, but they’re seen everywhere together and there are no more genderswap disguises—at least in public, Kame hints at one point, and Nakamaru informs him that this is the extent of their sharing.

“Hey,” he finally asks Riisa one night, three months in. They’re at her place tonight, relaxing after a long week for both of them, and Riisa’s not even trying to impress him in what looks like brightly colored pajamas and her hair in messy pigtails. “Why don’t you try to sleep with me?”

Riisa pauses with her hand in the popcorn bowl and tilts her head, making her pigtails bounce cutely. “Do you want me to?”

“No, I mean…” Nakamaru trails off and tries again. “It’s just strange, you know, that you haven’t tried. Are you not attracted to me?”

“Yuichi, you’re not the only one who talks about other people’s business,” Riisa tells him pointedly, shoving a huge handful of popcorn into her face before going on. “Massu warned me that you like to take it slow and it’s burned you before, so I don’t think about it. Figured when you wanted it, you’d let me know.”

Nakamaru’s torn between being aggravated that his friend would relay something that personal and grateful that he did. “You can just not think about it that easily, though?” he asks.

“I spend most of my working days catching cheaters in the act,” she says with a shrug. “I’m not exactly in a rush myself after all of that.”

“I would never cheat on you,” Nakamaru says earnestly, staring her right in the eyes, and she gives him a small smile.

“That’s sweet,” she says, “though most of our cheaters are women. It’s the principle of the matter.”

Nakamaru feels his cheeks heat up. “Oh.”

“I am very attracted to you,” she goes on, and now Nakamaru swallows hard. “Whenever you want it, it’s yours.”

Nakamaru looks at her in her fuzzy pink pants with purple stars and striped shirt and finds her incredibly sexy. “Really?”

“Yeah, but no pressure.” She waves a hand dismissively and reaches for the popcorn again. “I’m fine with this the way it is. You have to be promiscuous enough for your job, so at least you can be wholesome with me.”

Nakamaru blinks as he considers her words. “I never thought about it like that before.”

“Honestly, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw your group work.” Riisa shrugs again. “It makes sense to me, you know? That you wouldn’t want to bring that home with you. I get it.”

Something twists in Nakamaru’s chest and he’s pretty sure it’s his heart; he must be looking at Riisa rather oddly, because she gives him that adorable confused look again. This time he reaches for her, pulling her hand right out of the popcorn bowl as he captures her mouth. He kisses her hard, drinking her in and wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. She gives back just as much as she gets, curling into him as the heat quickly rises between them.

“Riisa,” he breathes, pressing their foreheads together as his body becomes fueled by sensations he hasn’t felt in a long time. “I want it.”

Instead of replying, Riisa escapes from his grasp and unceremoniously yanks him by the arm, down the hall and all the way into her room where she more or less throws him down onto her bed. Nakamaru’s still stunned when she crawls on top of him, straddling his waist and leaning down to fuse their mouths together, sending Nakamaru’s focus on a sharp shift back.

Normally he would feel anxious right now, inwardly freaking out over being with someone new, but Riisa doesn’t give him time to think about anything but her. She practically tears his shirt open, her warm touch spreading all over his chest, and her first grind down pulls a groan from the back of Nakamaru’s throat that Riisa happily swallows.

Then everything seems to slow down, Nakamaru taking in every centimeter of Riisa’s skin as his hands slide underneath her shirt. Everything about her body language tells him to keep going, her skin bumping under his fingertips while a soft moan vibrates his tongue. He wants to hear more of that, wants to cause more of that, his hips rolling just enough to make his desire evident.

“Yuichi,” she breathes. “Touch me.”

It’s the easiest order he could ever follow, fumbling a little bit with the clasps of her bra before he finally gets it undone. It’s from excitement, not nerves, though she’s smiling as she helps him pull it off of her shoulders along with her shirt. This leaves her gloriously topless, her breasts plump and perfect and Nakamaru’s hands are already on them before he considers how perverted this looks.

She doesn’t seem to mind, her own fingers skating down his abdomen that concaves as she reaches his belt. Already this is so different than any other girl who’s touched him, when he’d finally let them, usually reluctantly. This time he’s trembling in anticipation, thumbing her nipples and pushing up against where she rocks down, building the heat between them. Nakamaru is already so hard and he knows that she can feel it, maybe wants it, the mere thought of giving it to her making him groan again before she even has his pants open.

The first touch of her hand on him feels so good, and it only gets better as she starts to move. His blood burns like fire through his veins and he doesn’t think twice before he reaches between her legs, touching her through her pajama pants and jerking at the sharp moan that seems to pierce the cloud of passion surrounding them. She’s so warm even with the layers of cotton in the way and he can’t wait to feel more.

She’s loud, he learns the hard way when he dips his hand past her waistband to touch her. Her moaning is so loud that she can’t kiss through it, leaning back to push right against his fingers. He knows his way around a woman well enough, but Riisa doesn’t give him a chance to navigate on his own as she rubs herself right where she wants it.

She’s so wet, making it easy for him to push one finger inside her, then two. Her body is completely responsive to him, pushing back as he feels her on the inside. Her own hand has fallen lax on his cock and he’s glad for it; with as hot as she is right, he’d be liable reach his breaking point before he’s even inside her.

“You have a condom, right?” she asks him suddenly, eyes full of lust and a pointed glare that tells Nakamaru he’d be going right down to the nearest conbini if the answer is no.

“Of course,” he answers, because he is responsible and prepared, and he’s barely fished the condom out of his wallet before she shoves his pants down and follows with hers. “You want to do it like this?”

“Yeah.” She flashes him a devious smile as she snatches the condom from him and rolls it on. “I like to be on top.”

That’s not surprising at all, but before he can speak the words she’s already sinking down onto him, sending the rest of his coherency into an unobtainable place. Not only does she feel good, she looks good, too, biting her lip as she takes him all the way in, until their thighs are touching and Nakamaru grabs her hips just for something to hold onto. Her body squeezes him all over, adjusting to having him inside her, and Nakamaru moans even though they’re lying still.

Once she starts to move, he quickly learns that all he needs to do is lay there, letting her rock back and forth sharply enough to feel him deep. She’s leaning over him, her hair flinging all over the place, and he reaches up for her face, brushing his knuckles along her cheek. She smiles and kisses him deeply, gasping when he takes advantage of their new position to snap his hips, gently at first until she’s pushing back for it.

He feels her start to shake and can hardly believe it when she comes, crying out his name as she tightens around him and keeps going. As much as Nakamaru wants to make this last, his own pressure is building inside him to the point where he doesn’t think he can hold it back much longer, telling her as much in a deep voice he doesn’t recognize hissed between kisses.

“This is only the beginning, you know,” she whispers back, promising. “We can do it again, and again. Go ahead, Yuichi. Come for me.”

Now he’s grabbing onto her hips for a reason, pulling her down with each thrust up and pulling another orgasm from her before he finally gives in to his. His entire body tingles, the weight of her body on top of his taking him higher as he finds her mouth again and kisses her on his way back down.

“How did this even happen?” he muses when he can speak again, Riisa curled up against his chest as he struggles to catch his breath. “I mean, this all started because Matsumoto-kun botched an assignment and used my car to hide behind.”

Riisa shrugs as she draws aimlessly in the sweat on his chest. “Guess you’re just lucky like that.”

“That must be it,” Nakamaru teases her, pulling her into another kiss and feeling like the luckiest man in the world.


End file.
